Cushioning device



June 22, 1943. L. E. JQNES 2,322,642

CUSHIONING DEVICE 7 A 5 9 Z9 9 f 7 W1 TNESSESE I N V EN TOR:

@M/, l zlqy. Janes, @2222 212,2 2 BY mm A TTORNE YS.

June 22, 1943. B, ,JONES 2,322,642-

CUSHIONING DEVICE Filed Sept. 27, 1941 2 SheetS--Sheel'l 2 NW 7K W I TNESSES.- INVENTOR:

A TTORNE respectively.

Patented June Z2, 1943 oUsHioNiNG DEVICE Lloyd B. Jones, Holldaysburg, Pa., assignor to The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 27, 1941, Serial No. 412,615

(Cl. 23S- 283) 11 Claims.

This invention relates to cushioning devices for absorbing shocks imparted to supported elements such for example as track rails or car bodies, or to elements subjected to sudden movement or jars from different directions such for example as the draft gears of railway cars.

A' One of the aims of my invention is to make it possible to cushion and absorb shocks gently but effectively in progressive stages graduated in proportion to the magnitude of the impulses. This objective I attain in practice as hereinafter more fully disclosed, through provision of a cushioning device having opposed groups of load supporting or pressure elements between which resilient elements of rubber or the like are interposed, and by the cooperative action of which the intervening resilient elements are initially subjected to compression and afterwards to shearing action as the load increases.

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the following detailed description ofthe attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in plan illustrating a cushioning device according to my invention in a suitable form for use in interposition between a railway track rail and its supporting tie, portions in the figure being shown in section and others having been broken away to expose important details which would otherwise be hidden.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the organization featured in Fig. l with the rail shown in cross section,

Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of two of the components of the cushioning device.

Fig. 5 is a view in top plan of an alternative form of my improved cushioning device; and

` Fig. 6 is an axial sectional view of the modied device taken as indicated by the angled a1'- rows VI--VI in Fig. 5.

With reference rst to Figs. l-4 of the. illustrations, I designates the railway tie, 2 the tie plate, and 3 the track rail. The cushioning def vice of my inventionby which the rail 3 is directly supported, includes two opposing groups of rigid metallic bar components 5 and 6 in parallel, which may be cast or which may be cut from rolled bar stock of T shaped cross section, the upright webs andhead iianges of said components being designated 1, 8 and Si, IB Included in the. two groups are end bars II and I2 of L shaped cross section respectively with upright legs I3, I4 and lateral i'ianges I5, I6. As shown, the bar components 6 and I2 of the second group are arranged in invert relation to the bar components 5 and. II of the rst group, with the head flanges of adjacent bars in the two groups spaced to receive between them the vertical webs of the other` group. It is to be noted that the vertical webs 'I and 8 of the bar components 5 and 6 are roughened on opposite sides, 4and the vertical legs I3 and III of the end components II and I2 are roughened only on their inner sides, the roughening being preferably formed by corrugations which extend in the direction of the length of the bars, i. e., in parallelism with their lateral flanges as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3.' The cushioning device further includes a series of resilient components II of rubber or the like which may be either separately molded or cut from strip rubber or the like of relatively thin rectangular cross section with smooth side and end faces (see Fig, 4), said strips being of a height somewhat less than that of the upright webs 'I and 8 of the bars and positioned be-v tween the opposing roughened side faces of adjacent bars of the two groups. It is to be further noted from Fig. 2 that in accordance with my invention the tie plate 2 is provided with a relatively deep recess I8 between up* standing flanges I9, said recess being slightly wider than the base of the rail 3 and snugly accommodating the bar and strip components as clearly shown. Thus, the elements 5, 6, I'I and the tie plate together constitute a cushioning unit which may be assembled atA the time of manufacture and placed as such when the rail is laid. The rail 3 is held in place after a more or less common practice by means of spikes 20 which pass through the tie plate 2 and engage into the tie I, and have their heads overlapping the opposite ange edges of the said rail. The tie plate 2 is in turn secured to the tie I by means of nuts 2| engaging the protruding threaded ends of bolts 22 passing through the tie. As the rail 3 is loaded by passage of trains thereover, it will be seen that the bar components 5 and I I will move downward relative to the bearing components 6 and I2, such movement being attended initially by compression of the rubber. As the movement continues with incidental lateral expansion of the resilient strips I1, the latter will be eventually gripped by the roughened opposing surfaces of adjacent bar components of the two groups and the strips placed in shearv with consequentinc'rease in' its resistivity. In this way it will be seen that the vibrations imparted to the rail as 'it'is over,- travelled by the trains will be effectively 4absorbed to the advantage not only of minimizing wear and tear on the rails, and ties, but of re` ducing the noises attending" train travels. Since, as shown in Fig. l, the length of the bar and strip components 5, 6 and I'I corresponds substantially tothe width of the tie I and aggregate the width of rail base, the rail is afforded full support vover the usual area by the cushioning device.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown a cushioning unit which functions in the same manner as cross section like the bars of the first described" embodiment.

Associated with the ring 6c is a ring lZc of L shaped cross section like the ring I2 of the first described embodiment; and interposed between the corrugated upright Webs 1c, 8c and I4c of the elements 5c, 6c and |2c are rings llc of resilient material with a rectangular cross section like that of the strips I1 of the rst described embodiment. In addition to the rings 5c and 6c there is a central element 50 which may be regarded as associated with the ring 5c, said central element having a circular head 5i to engage over the top edge of the innermosty of the resilient rings IIc, and a corrugated shank 52 whereof the surface opposes the contiguous annular corrugated surface of the ring 5c, the sevu eral components above described being all contained in a cuplike housing 52 as shown in Fig. 6. If desired, the elements 5c, 6c and I2C of the device in Figs 5 and-10 may be cast or they may be produced from cutlengths of T and L shaped bar metal and then bent vinto circular form withV the ends of such lengths abutting as indicated by the radial lines at 55, 56 and 51 in-Fig. 5. It is to be understood that I am not limited to the precise numberof ring components shown in Figs. 5 and 6, since the number may be increased if necessary to meet special requirements of practice. The alternative embodiment of Figs. 5 and G-maybe used'in instances where the square type of units shown in previous forms would be impractical or undesirable, for exam-ple, in interposition between the bodiesand chassis frames of automobiles and motor trucks, or between the engines andthe chassis frameslof such vehicles.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cushioning device comprising at least two relatively movable reversely arranged pressure' components of rigid material with opposing ledges at right angles to opposing roughenedsurfaces which latter are-aligned in the direction of movement of said-components; and a resilient smooth surfacedcomponent of rubber or the like interposed between the roughened surfaces of the pressure components withV its ends overlapped respectivelyby and engaging the ledges of the latter components and contacting normally with the highY spots only of said roughened surfaces, whereby; incident to movement' of the pressurecomponentsv toward each other under load,- the resilient component'is :[irstv allel relation and having lateral anges which provide the ledges; and wherein the resilient component is in the form of a straight b-ar of rectangular cross section.

4. A cushioning device characterized as in claim 1, wherein the roughening on the opposing l faces of the pressure components is provided by corrugations extending parallel to the plane of the ledges of said pressure components.

5. A cushioning device according to claim 1, having plural reversely arranged pressure components; and pressure transmitting plate interposed between adjacent pressure components.

6. A cushioning device characterized as in claim 1, wherein the several components are of annular configuration arranged one within another.

'7. A cushioning device characterized as inv claim 1, wherein the several components are of annular conguration arranged one within another; and wherein the resilient component is relatively thin and flat sided; and wherein the at sidesof said resilient component are gripped by the opposing roughened surfaces of the pressure components after initial compression of said resilient component.

3. A cushioning device characterized as in claim l, wherein the pressure components are fashioned, into annular form from straight bar stock with lateral ledge means along one edge;

and wherein the resilient component is fashionedV into ring form from dat-sided strip material of plain rectangular cross section,

9. A cushioning device characterized as in claim 1, wherein the several componentsare of annular conguration arranged onerwithin another; andwherein the roughening on the opposing faces of the pressure components. is provided by annular corrugations which extend parallel to theplane of the ledges on said pres-` sure components.

10. A cushioning devicefor interposition be tween track` rails and their supporting ties comprising a group of rigid pressure bar components of T shaped cross section laidside by side with another group of alternate pressure bar components inverted relative to the others, Vthe. upright webs of the bars having their faces roughened; smooth faced resilient strip components of rubber or the like positioned snug between the vertical webs of the respective bars with their upper and lower edges overlapped by and respectively engaging the head anges of adjacent bars and contacting normally with the high spots onlyof said roughened surfaces, whereby, incident to relative movement of the bars under load, the resilient strip components are rst compressed, and, through attendant lateral expansion with increase in the load, caused to be later gripped by the opposing roughened faces of' adjacent bar components of the two groups; and means for resisting the lateral thrust upon the bar components developed by the lateral expansion of the rubber strips.

11. A cushioning device in accordance with claim 10, in which the thrust resisting means is in the form of a plate with upstandng flanges between which the pressurebar and strip components of the device are ccnned in assembled relation.

LLOYD B. JONES. 

